


first snow

by nightstreet



Category: True Beauty - Yaongyi (Webcomic), 여신강림 | True Beauty (Korea TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Im Jugyeong gets jealous for a change, Post-Canon Kdrama, and Lee Suho knows how to make friends now, not really that mature again but to be safe!, soft babies pursuing their dreams and making their relationship work through it all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:40:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29468130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightstreet/pseuds/nightstreet
Summary: Suho sits down on the ground with her, pushing a magazine out of the way. He comfortably leans his head on her shoulder. “We haven’t spent that much time together recently,” he says, regret in his voice.Jugyeong turns her head to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “This is a good thing,” she assures him. “It means that we’re both pursuing our dreams.”(or Lee Suho makes a new friend in his music program and Im Jugyeong isn't sure how to deal with it)
Relationships: Jugyeong Lim/Suho Lee
Comments: 27
Kudos: 90





	first snow

Jugyeong waits for him by the bottom of the stairs, scrolling through her phone looking at the most recently released edition of Vogue. She leans against the railing, pursing her lips in concentration as she studies the rose-colored tones mixed with the golden matte skin of the model in the photo.

She can hear the words of Lee Selena ringing in her head _, it’s a crime to choose the wrong lip color for the tone of the model’s skin. It makes or breaks the whole look._ She zooms in closer on the lip tint on the Vogue model, studying it more intricately.

Jugyeong is so concentrated that she doesn’t even hear him come up, wrapping his arms around from behind her in a tight back hug. She jumps up, almost dropping her phone. “Ya! You scared me,” she exclaims, turning her face around to look at her boyfriend, who is smiling cheekily at her.

“Lee Suho, this is embarrassing – we’re at school, what if someone sees?” she mumbles, fighting a smile and wrestling out of his hug.

“Let them see then,” Suho replies lightly, his smile growing even bigger, though he does concede in letting go of her.

She flips her body around to face him, shoving her phone in her pocket. “How was your first day of class?” Jugyeong asks, almost like a concerned parent. “Did you sit in the front of the class? How was your professor? Did you make any friends?”

The questions leave out of her mouth quickly, but she can’t help it – she just wants to know all about everything. Ever since the day he told her he’d gotten into university, she’d been so excited for him to experience it all after being isolated for so many years taking care of his dad.

Suho chuckles in response to her eagerness, taking her hand into his as they begin to make their way towards his car. “It was fine,” he says, simply, shrugging his shoulders. “I sat in the second row, by the window. My professor seems really knowledgeable and experienced in the field, so I’m excited to learn from him. I didn’t make any friends yet, but there are a few of my classmates that said they want to form a group for some of the team projects we’ll be doing.”

He answers all her questions with ease. “Really? That’s amazing,” she breathes a sigh of relief, comforted by the fact that he’s already seeming to fit in.

“How was your first day?” Suho asks her in return, swinging their hands a little.

She frowns in response. Since she’s in her third year, her classes are no longer mainly didactic – they’re less about theory and more hands-on. For this semester, she’s tasked with creating the concept for the stage makeup for the school’s main fall theatre production, working closely with one of her professors to create makeup looks for each of the main characters.

Despite how excited Jugyeong is about being given the opportunity, the responsibility is heavy in her shoulders, and as always, she’s deathly afraid of letting people down. Unsure how to process all these feelings, she hesitates.

Like always, he knows her like the back of his hand and notices her apprehension. He stops them both in their steps.

“Are you feeling good or bad?” Suho asks her gently, giving her both a thumbs up and thumbs down as an option. She smiles at the familiar sentiment, the cute look in his eyes already alleviating some of her anxiety.

“Good,” Jugyeong replies, giving him a thumbs up. “ _And_ a little bad,” she admits, turning her thumb down in response.

Suho frowns in concern. “Why?”

“This theatre production – it’s a really great opportunity, I’m going to learn a lot and gain a lot of experience which I’m really happy about,” she expresses with excitement, before slouching her shoulders down and hanging her head. “But it’s bad, because I’m stressed and worried that I won’t do a great job.”

Suho tilts her chin up to look at him and brushes the stray hairs out of her face. “You’re going to do great,” he assures her, eyes on her. “You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re Im Jugyeong,” Suho says, giving her an affectionate rub on the head. She smiles shyly as she feels the butterflies in her stomach. “And you can practice on me any time you want, since we’ll be studying together a lot.”

“Anytime I want?” Jugyeong asks, her eyes lighting up.

“Every day even,” Suho promises, grabbing her hand again and continuing on their path. “I’m thinking we should study together _every day_.”

“That’s a lot of studying though,” she argues, lightheartedly.

“Well, we can’t let our grades slip, can we?” Suho replies, giving her a shameless look.

“Ah, Lee Suho—the perfect student, what will I do with you,” she says. “I can already feel you will be top of the class in university too,” Jugyeong teases, nudging her shoulder against his.

They’re approaching the car in the parking lot now and he lets go of her hand to open the car door for her.

“Only because my _sunbae_ will be teaching me everything she knows about the school,” Suho jokes, gesturing for her to get in the car like a gentleman.

Jugyeong crinkles up her nose, feeling a million times older all of a sudden at the term of endearment. “I don’t like that,” she asserts, giving him a disgusted look.

He laughs as he goes around and enters the car from his side. “What do you think we should eat for lunch today, Im _Sunbae_?”

Jugyeong smacks him lightly on the arm, rolling her eyes. “Stop saying that,” she demands with a pout.

He only chuckles in response, before starting the car and heading to their next destination.

-

There’s a café that they’ve been starting to study frequently at. It’s close by their school _and_ the bus stop for the bus that she typically takes to work, so it makes commuting to and from easy for her. As a plus, it also has nice big windows, natural light and the drinks are good. Jugyeong and Suho end up spending so much of their time there that they’ve gotten acquainted with the workers and the barista knows them by name now.

“Oh, hi _unni_!” the younger high-school aged girl greets her with a smile, fingers already automatically pressing the buttons on the cash register. “Did you want your caramel macchiato iced or hot today?”

Jugyeong naturally peeks into the glass display with all the pastries before answering. “Mmm… I think I’ll do iced today,” Jugyeong decides with a smile. “You always remember, Park Min-ah.”

“Of course, I had a feeling today would be iced,” the girl nods in response, as if she knew exactly what Jugyeong’s answer was going to be. “You want a large americano too, right?” Min-ah asks.

Jugyeong peers up from the display. “Yes!” she responds, sliding her card across the counter. “Can I also get one of these blueberry muffins?”

Once seated at the same table Suho and her always sit at, Jugyeong sets up her laptop, getting straight to work on her Powerpoint, her mind in intense concentration. The sound of the opening door a few minutes later breaks her focus and she glances up to see her boyfriend walk through the door.

He is as charming as ever, wearing a camel-colored trenchcoat and a black mock turtleneck. His hair is done up nicely, the way she likes it.

“Lee Suho!” she says, looking up from her screen, her mood ever so bright to see him. “Are you ready to work hard today?” She holds both her fists up in encouragement.

He grins, taking a seat across from her. After placing his backpack down, he joins her in holding both of his fists up as well. “I am. I have quite a bit to do today,” he tells her. He reaches over and pulls out his textbook on music theory, a highlighter, and a black pen from his backpack.

“Then I, Im Jugyeong,” she points at her cheek, “Promise not to distract you today!” she finishes brightly, crossing her hand over her heart.

Suho raises his eyebrows in response. “You don’t want to practice your makeup on me today?”

She shakes her head vigorously. “Nope! I will give your face a break today, because I have to get started on this PowerPoint!”

Suho flips to a page that he’s bookmarked, looking down carefully at his notes. He looks up at her again. “Well, if you change your mind, my face is all yours.”

She purses her lips, almost as if she’s offended by what he’s said. “Hey, don’t be saying things like that around other girls, okay?” Jugyeong commands him, though her tone is not so serious. “You’ll make them fall for you.”

“I would never dream of it,” Suho promises, before taking a sip of his coffee. “Thank you for ordering the coffee today.”

His mention of the coffee suddenly triggers her memory of the pastry next to her. She pushes the blueberry muffin on the plate across the table and towards him. “Oh! I got this for you, you need lots of energy in order to study at your best.”

“Im Jugyeong, are you trying to fatten me up?” he teases, before picking up the blueberry muffin and peeling back the baking paper.

She sticks her tongue out at him. “Yes, that way you can never leave me,” she jokes.

“I could never leave you any way,” he says before taking a big bite of the muffin in his hand.

-

She’s over at Soo-ah’s house practicing the makeup for the main protagonist of the show when he calls her. “Give me one second,” Jugyeong excuses herself, leaving her friend with one only false eyelash glued on and the other still lying on the table, untouched.

“You’re really going to leave me in this state for your boyfriend?” Soo-ah exclaims, melodramatically. 

“You’re only missing one eyelash,” Jugyeong retorts with a smile, already halfway out the door. “I think you’ll live.”

Soo-ah shakes her head and clicks her tongue in disapproval as Jugyeong steps out into the living room to pick up the phone.

There’s a smile on her face already. “Hi,” she answers. “How did your meeting go?”

“It went well,” Suho’s voice rings through the phone. She notices that he sounds really happy -- it’s nice to hear after everything he’s been through. “We assigned everyone a section in the book to go over.”

“That’s amazing,” Jugyeong says, leaning against the wall. “Did you get along with everyone?”

“Yes, I hope so,” Suho answers. “One of the girls in our group is training to be an idol at Move.”

Jugyeong lets out a curious hum. “Really? Do you think Han Seojun knows her?”

“I’m not sure, but she’s just beginning because she just moved here from the United States,” he explains.

“Wow,” Jugyeong replies, suddenly imagining the talent that Suho’s study group must contain in their music major. “And she speaks Korean?”

“She does but she struggles a bit with the grammar.”

“You should help her,” Jugyeong suggests, brightly. “Since you always did score 100s in Korean Lit back in high school. You’re an expert.”

He snorts through the phone in response. “That was so long ago,” he says. There’s a pause. “She wants to meet up on Saturday, actually, to talk about possibly working on a music project together.”

“That’s so great,” Jugyeong says, in awe. Ever since Suho worked on the debut song for Seojun, she knows he’s been itching to find a new artist to work with.

Suho seems hesitant though, for some reason. “I know we usually study on Saturdays at the café though—”

“You should meet up with her,” Jugyeong cuts him off quickly, hoping to show her full support. To hear that Suho is starting his career and working on projects he’s passionate about brings her so much happiness as well.

“Are you sure? We can always choose a different day,” Suho offers.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Jugyeong maintains, firmly. “This is important for you. I don’t want you to miss out on something like this.”

She pauses before continuing. “I’m really happy you’re making friends, Lee Suho. I never would have thought that I’d see you like this.”

He laughs, echoing through the phone. “Im Jugyeong, do you think I am wholly incapable of interacting with people?”

She grins in response. “Lee Suho, you weren’t very nice the first time I met you,” Jugyeong says, memories of his hot-and-cold moments with her flooding. She’ll never stop teasing him about them.

“Ahhh, you’re right,” Suho responds with a sigh and she can almost hear his smile through the phone. She holds the phone closely to her ear, almost as if he’s there with her.

“Im Juuuuu,” Soo-ah then calls from the room, her tone impatient and slightly whiny. “Are you going to talk to your boyfriend forever?”

Jugyeong snaps out of it, remembering suddenly what she was in between working on when Suho had called. “I think I’ve left Soo-ah too long and she’s getting antsy,” she whispers into the phone, starting to turn around and head back into the room. “I’ll call you later tonight, okay?”

-

On Saturday night, they’re sitting at his kitchen counter with the pizza box open between them, garlic knots and breadsticks fill the table. Jugyeong leans forward, her stomach grumbling with hunger as she grabs a slice and immediately takes a bite of it happily.

“Mmmm, delicious!” she hums, closing her eyes as if it helps her to savor the taste. Looking up at him, Jugyeong asks, “How did today go?”

Suho also takes a slice of pizza as well. “I think it went well,” he says with his small smile. She notices he has a sort of light around him that hadn’t been there before—or since he had started school. “We just talked about the type of music we want to create in the future.”

Jugyeong takes another bite of her pizza. “What was her name again?” Jugyeong asks, tilting her head.

“Shin Heeyeon,” Suho replies, adding some pepper flakes on top of his slice before taking a bite. “She’s trying to debut as a solo artist but they want to put her in a group because her Korean is not that great yet.”

Jugyeong frowns in response. “If she wants to go solo, she won’t be happy in a group,” she says with a pout. “What can we do? Maybe I can talk to my sister.”

The cheese suddenly falls off of Jugyeong’s slice of pizza as she’s taking a bite. She looks at it upset, before trying to put it back on the bread. “My cheese,” she whines.

Suho smiles in amusement before giving her another slice on her plate. “Since I’ve also been wanting to work more on my music producing and we seem to have the same style,” he says. “We were thinking we could create some demo songs together in order to really show her talent to her managers.”

Jugyeong widens her eyes at the idea. “Wa! That’s a great idea Lee Suho. I am so excited for you.” She leans forward, putting the pizza in her hands down. “Seyeon would be so happy to hear you pursuing your dream.”

He looks up at her, his eyes lighting up. “You think so?”

Jugyeong nods energetically in response. “I know so,” she assures him.

He smiles before leaning forward across the counter to kiss her once innocently on the lips. He leans back just an inch, his eye contact with her seemingly so intimate and close that it makes her blush.

“You’re the best girlfriend ever,” he murmurs before kissing her again.

-

She’s completely consumed with her work at Selena’s salon and with the theater production and he’s busy working on his music and studying for school, that a second Saturday goes by without their weekly meeting at the café.

Jugyeong has a scheduled meeting with the director of the theater production in order to finish crafting her concept and presentation. Sticking the pen in her mouth, she thoughtfully listens to him and his vision.

“This scene in the play is especially important because this is the turning point of the protagonist from being the innocent, naïve character to her descent to darkness,” the director is saying, and she’s trying her best to pay attention but honestly, she’s only had like 4 hours of sleep last night, so it’s taking a lot more mental capacity than usual.

Shaking her head out of it, Jugyeong nods quickly in response, jotting down some ideas in her notepad.

“What do you think, Im Jugyeong?” the director says to her.

Jugyeong takes a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking. Trying to swallow the nervousness, she tries to speak in her most confident-sounding voice. “Because the main character starts off with more of a gold and pink color scheme for her eye makeup, I think this scene would be a good time to start darkening that palette and darkening it to more of a burnt sienna, darker auburns.”

She pauses. “And then near the end of the play, like the scene where she stabs her father, we could add more of a smokey black look which would really complete her descent into darkness.”

The director is nodding along and looking at her with agreement. Jugyeong internally celebrates at her improvement in her confidence, slowly but surely. “This sounds great,” the director says approvingly, before directing his attention to the main costume designer in the room. “If you could work with Im Jugyeong to make sure the looks are cohesive, I would like to make sure this is all completed by next Friday.”

Jugyeong leaves the meeting with some renewed confidence and a bright smile on her face, excited to let Suho know how the day had gone. She texts him to let him know that she’s finished and if she could come over.

Without waiting for his response, she automatically starts heading for the bus stop that would lead her to his apartment.

However, a few minutes later, her phone vibrates with a text.

_“I’m so sorry Im Jugyeong, I can’t tonight. I’m working on a song with Heeyeon today. Can we do it another night?”_

Feeling a little disappointed, but not enough to affect her day, she texts him back immediately. _“It’s okay. Fighting!”_

His response is many heart emojis.

-

He comes over for dinner on Sunday night and they’re making dumplings again.

“Hyung-ahhhhh,” Juyoung wails, wrapping his arms around Suho. Suho stands still, looking somewhat uncomfortable since his arms are trapped under her brother’s, but still amused. “Where have you _been_? I’ve been wanting to play _Tekken 7_ again.”

Suho glances over at Jugyeong, who is rolling her eyes. “Ya! Let go of him,” she scolds, tearing his arms away from her boyfriend.

“We can play after dinner,” Suho promises.

“Lee Suho, have you watched the highlights for the last FC Seoul game?” Jugyeong’s father asks, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Ki Sung-yueng’s last assist was _amazing!_ I almost couldn’t believe they pulled it off.”

Suho glances up with excitement. “No way, I was so sad I had to miss that game,” Suho replies with a sigh.

“Let me show you now!” her father says, pulling up the highlights on his phone, which earns him a solid smack on the back of the head from Jugyeong’s mother.

“No sports at the dinner table,” she scolds. Jugyeong’s father rubs the back of his head, wincing in pain.

“Let’s watch it after,” Jugyeong’s father says, with continued enthusiasm.

Jugyeong glares at both her father and brother. “He’s my boyfriend,” she says, crossing her arms around chest with slight contempt, though her tone is lighthearted.

“Stop being selfish, I never get to see _hyung_ anymore,” Juyoung retorts back, jabbing his sister in the side which leads her to help with pain.

“Ya! That hurt!” Jugyeong shouts in response, reflexively punching him back on the arm.

This small fight earns them both a smack on the back of their neck by their mother, causing both of them to look down, shamefully. “When will the both of you _stop_ fighting?” their mother curses in response, forcing them all to begin eating.

After dinner, Suho manages to slip away from entertaining both her brother and father, peeking his head into her room. “Sorry, Im Jugyeong,” he says, opening the door.

She’s sitting on the ground with magazines splayed around her, looking for inspiration in the pages. “It’s okay,” she says, looking up at him with a smile. “My family misses you.”

He sits down on the ground with her, pushing a magazine out of the way. He comfortably leans his head on her shoulder. “We just haven’t spent that much time together recently,” he says, regret in his voice.

Jugyeong turns her head to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “This is a good thing,” she assures him. “It means that we’re both pursuing our dreams.”

“It does mean that, doesn’t it?” Suho says, lighting up with a smile.

“It does,” she affirms. He lifts his head up from resting on her shoulder to kiss her, pressing his lips against hers softly.

Jugyeong reciprocates, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing him closer and deepening the kiss. He’s playing with the hem of her shirt and tracing his tongue against her bottom lip when she pushes him away, her face flushed pink.

“My parents are right outside,” she reprimands him, swatting him away and bringing her hands back down to her lap. He’s looking at her with playful eyes and a pout. “We can do that some other time when we’re not at risk of them coming in and killing us,” Jugyeong says with a laugh.

“Okay, Im Jugyeong,” Suho replies affectionately, taking her hand and pressing a kiss against each of her fingers.

-

“Hey-- do you know a girl named Shin Heeyeon?” Jugyeong asks over her spicy tteokbokki, taking a bite and then dropping it from her mouth immediately. “Ow, so hot!” she says, fanning her mouth.

Han Seojun scoffs at her, leaning back with his arm around the chair next to him. “What’s wrong with you – don’t you know how to eat? You’re twenty-one years old.”

She crosses her arms and huffs. “I’m just starving,” she says, looking down at the plate where the half eaten tteokbokki is sitting. “I didn’t have time to go get lunch because it was so busy at the salon today.”

Seojun clicks his tongue in disapproval. “Shouldn’t Lee Suho be bringing you lunch?” He takes a sip of water, casually.

“He’s been really busy lately with school and working on his new music project,” she explains, slight annoyance in her tone. “Wait, you already know this. Why are saying this? Are you and Suho fighting again?”

Seojun rolls his eyes in response. “No, I would never fight with your precious boyfriend. I don’t think he could handle it.”

Jugyeong leans forward, blowing on another piece of tteokbokki rapidly before eating it with a satisfied sigh. She leans back with happiness and a smile on her face.

“I’ve never seen a person so happy with food,” Seojun says, looking at her with disbelief. “You must have been a rat in the last lifetime.”

Jugyeong shoots him an annoyed look. “Ya! I didn’t come here to be made fun of,” she says, slightly aggressively. She chews another big bite before swallowing. “Anyway, I’ve been trying to ask. Have you met a girl named Shin Heeyeon? She’s a trainee at Move Entertainment right now.”

“Do you think I have time to pay attention to trainees now that I’ve debuted?” Seojun responds coldly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jugyeong sinks in her seat a little at his harshness. “I guess not,” she mumbles.

Seojun sighs in response after realizing that he was being a little too cold to her. “Actually, I have heard of her,” he offers.

“You have?” Jugyeong perks up.

“I just know all the male trainees have a crush on her,” he snorts in response. “I don’t really get it because she looks like every other idol-wannabe to me. But I guess she does have a good voice.”

Jugyeong looks down at her plate, in thought.

“Is she nice?” Jugyeong asks, her voice somewhat small.

“That’s what you care about?” Seojun asks, incredulously.

Jugyeong shrugs her shoulders. “She’s been spending a lot of time with Lee Suho recently. I hope she’s nice because I don’t want Suho to be taken advantage of.”

Seojun stares at her for a few moments before speaking. “Is that really it?” Seojun says, a hint of suspicion in his tone. “I’m sure that Lee Suho can take care of himself, Jugyeong. He’s not a child.”

She leans her cheek on her hand before looking down and rolling the rice cake around on her plate with the chopstick. “Still,” she mumbles.

A scoff escapes Seojun’s lips as he realizes. “Are you… jealous?” Seojun accuses, raising his eyebrows.

“No!” Jugyeong says, maybe a little too defensively. She slams her chopsticks down so loudly that it makes the whole restaurant look at them. Embarrassed, she slouches into her seat. “I mean. No. I’m not. I’m just worried.”

“Okay, okay,” Seojun says, raising his hands up. “So, you’re not jealous. I _completely_ believe you.”

There is some sarcasm in his voice so Jugyeong gives him a dirty look before continuing to eat.

-

She can’t help it. She is trying to resist the temptation, but Soo-ah says it’s good to know what girl your boyfriend has been hanging out with. So she does it. She looks her up on Instagram.

It’s possibly the worst idea Jugyeong has ever had because this mysterious Shin Heeyeon that Lee Suho has been spending a lot of time with as of recently is possibly the most beautiful girl she’s ever seen. She has long black silky hair with wispy bangs and full pouty lips and really long legs and Jugyeong can’t stop looking.

Jugyeong scrolls through her Instagram photos, in awe of her feed. Each of her photos are beautiful – perfectly shot and Heeyeon is so photogenic that she’s convinced that if she wasn’t an idol trainee, she would definitely be a model. Curiosity taking over her, she clicks on a video where Heeyeon is singing a cover of an English song she doesn’t know.

And her voice is so beautiful, it almost makes Jugyeong upset.

“How is she both cute and seductive at the same time?” Jugyeong groans, collapsing on her bed and covering her face with the pillow. “And she can _sing_ too? The world is so unfair.”

Connecting her phone to the new Bluetooth speaker her sister got her, she decides to blast her favorite song from the _Clash_ loudly to help drown out her feelings of jealousy. Not 30 seconds after the song begins playing, she hears the footsteps of her brother rapidly coming down the hall.

“Can you turn that _noise_ down? Some of us are trying to have some peace and quiet around here,” Jugyeong hears her brother complain from her doorframe.

She snorts, not bothering to waste time and turn around to entertain her brother, still face down on the pillow. “Then you chose the wrong house. And the wrong family.”

“If only I could choose my family,” Juyoung sneers. “Because I definitely would not pick you even if you were the last person on earth.”

Jugyeong rolls her eyes, finally picking her head up to glare at her brother. “I wouldn’t pick you either. I’d rather have a cat over you,” she quips back, quick as ever. “Can you go away already? I’m in crisis.”

“Not until you turn that down!” Juyoung complains, stepping into her room to try to grab her phone to turn off the music. “What kind of crisis can you even be in anyway? You’re so dramatic.”

Juyoung rips the phone out of her hands. “W-wait!” Jugyeong shouts.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Juyoung enunciates in English for effect. He ogles at the phone, pulling it closer and farther as if to adjust his eyes. “Who is _this?_ She is hot _!_ ”

Jugyeong face flushes with rage, snatching the phone back from him in annoyance. “I’m telling Go-woon you said that if you don’t get out of my room right now,” she threatens.

“I think Go-woon would agree with me though,” Juyoung says, trying to peer over her shoulder to look at the phone again. “She is _so_ pretty. Do you know her? Can I meet her?”

“No,” Jugyeong shoots back quickly, exasperatedly. “Can you leave me alone? I’m turning off the music.” She angrily clicks down at where the stop button is on her phone. She looks down, confused, because the music doesn’t stop playing.

But – the music app isn’t the one that’s open on her screen.

To her horror, the once outline of a heart under Heeyeon’s Instagram photo is now filled in with red. Jugyeong eyes widen with shock. As quickly as she can, she un-likes the photo, praying that Heeyeon did not see or notice in the seconds of the mistake.

“Juyoung, I’m gonna kill you!” Jugyeong screams, throwing her phone on her bed and tackling her brother down to the floor.

-

Finally, there’s a Saturday where they’re able to meet up and study back at the café. Jugyeong is so excited because it’s been a while since they’ve been able to comfortably spend time together, so she actually wakes up early to do her hair and makeup.

She knows that Suho doesn’t care if she’s wearing makeup, but she just does it anyway to make herself feel a little bit prettier.

“I’ll get my caramel macchiato hot today,” Jugyeong says to the barista when she gets to the cafe, peering at the bakery treats through the glass display again, like a tradition.

“Did you want anything else?” Min-ah asks.

Jugyeong looks up, surprised. She supposes it has been a few weeks since they’ve been at the café, so maybe Min-ah has forgotten their regular order. “And a large hot americano,” Jugyeong says, almost like a question.

Min-ah’s face seems to light up a little. “Oh, yes, of course!” she says, picking up a cup and beginning to write on the side of it. “By the way, is the Americano for Lee Suho?” she probes, her eyes curious.

“Yes, of course,” Jugyeong replies, still puzzled by the barista’s odd response. “Who else would it be for?”

Min-ah breathes a loud sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness!” she says, a bright smile on her face replacing the cautious look on her face from earlier. “I was worried for a little bit because I haven’t seen the two of you together in a while.”

“Oh, we’ve just been so busy with work and school,” she explains, handing over her card.

“Lee Suho was just here yesterday actually,” Min-ah replies, swiping the card. “He came in with another girl and they sat at the table you guys usually sit at,” she explains, her voice low. “It made me think you guys broke up. I was really sad cause you both are so cute together – _couple goals_!”

Jugyeong freezes at this news, but she tries not to let her surprise show on her face. Instead, she offers a nervous giggle and a thank you.

“Anyway, I’ll bring the drinks to your table in a couple minutes. I’m glad you’re back,” Min-ah says, thankfully oblivious to Jugyeong’s discomfort.

When Suho arrives that day to study, Jugyeong tries her hardest to be as bright and happy as can be to hopefully disguise any insecure feelings that have risen in her. She tells herself that she’s overthinking it – that it’s totally fine that her boyfriend gets coffee with his friend, especially when the coffee shop is so close to school. It just makes sense, it’s not weird – it’s normal. She gets food with Han Seojun all the time and Suho never says a word about it.

“You seem distracted,” Suho says after a few minutes together, studying her face.

Jugyeong laughs nervously in response, looking immediately down at the drawing she’s working on, her face feeling a little hot at being called out. “Oh, I’m just really nervous about the presentation for Friday,” she tells him. And she is – it’s not a lie. It’s just not the only thing on her mind.

“Do you want to practice out loud again? I can listen,” he says, putting down his pen and not taking his eyes off her.

She really wishes he would look away from her because she’s afraid that he’ll see right through her. “No, no, that won’t be necessary,” Jugyeong insists. “It’s just nerves, that’s all.”

His hand is on top of hers now, comforting, as always. He lowers his head down closer to the table in an attempt to look at her. “Jugyeong-ah, can I see your face?”

She looks up at him, and he’s looking at her with those loving eyes again – and the cutest small smile turning up on the sides of his mouth. “There she is,” he says, and her heart leaps out of her chest.

“I believe in you,” Suho tells her, his voice serious, holding her hand tightly, not looking away from her. He reaches across the table to kiss her lightly on the forehead. She gives him a small smile in response. “You’re talented and hard-working and you’re going to impress them all.”

Jugyeong looks at him sheepishly. “You really think so?” she asks.

“I do,” Suho promises.

In just a few moments with him, she almost can’t believe that she was so upset at him for something so silly when all he ever does is support her.

-

After a long shift at Selena’s and having a difficult and nit-picky client yell at her all day, all she wants to do is head down to Prince Comics and get the newest volume of the horror comic that she’s been reading. There’s been so little time recently for leisure, that she decides that she’s going to give herself a break and not think about her big semester project for a night.

She gives Suho a call on the way to the comic shop. Usually, his voice at the end of the day will bring her much comfort and relief.

But when he picks up the phone that day, _her_ laughter is in the background, ringing melodic, beautiful, almost like a song.

She feels a pang in her chest before she reminds herself that she doesn’t have to feel this way and tries to remember her warm feelings for him from the coffee shop.

“Jugyeong-ah,” she hears Suho say, and she can tell he’s just been laughing.

“Lee Suho,” she greets, though her voice is not as bright and cheery as it is usually.

“Did you just get off work?” he asks.

“I did,” she says, looking up and making her way towards the bus stop. She pulls her bag up on her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I’m with Heeyeon.”

“Oh, you’re still at school this late?” Jugyeong asks, concerned – it’s already dark outside and it’s beginning to get a lot colder at night. She checks the time on her watch -- it reads _8:32 PM_.

“No, we’re at my apartment.”

She pauses, her heart suddenly beating fast for no good reason. Jugyeong doesn’t know why, but she starts to feel her palms get a little sweaty at the thought of Suho and another girl together alone. “Your apartment?”

“We’re recording today in my music room,” he explains. “Do you want to come by? We’re almost done.”

 _Yes! She should come join us!_ She hears faintly from Heeyeon in the background.

Jugyeong feels a little irrationally angry at this. “It’s okay,” Jugyeong replies, sitting down on the seat at the bus stop. She looks down at her feet, which she feels like she’s dragging now. “I’m really tired. I think I’ll just go home.”

“I’ll come by and see you then afterwards?” Suho asks, his voice hopeful. Her heart kind of jumps at his sweetness, but she’s not really in the mood.

“Actually… I have an early day tomorrow, so I’ll probably just fall asleep when I get home,” Jugyeong tells him. She looks up and sees the headlights of her ride home approaching. “My bus is here – I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

-

She tells Choi Soo-ah all about her feelings one night because she’s her best friend and she can’t seem to hold it in anymore despite her embarrassment.

“I know I’m being insecure, but Lee Suho’s honestly never had a female friend before, so I don’t really know how to deal with it,” Jugyeong says, exasperated. She buries her face in her hands. “It’s just. They talk about _music_ together and she has this really great singing voice and I can’t help but compare myself to her.”

She pauses. “ _And you know I’m tone deaf!”_ she exclaims, exasperatedly.

“I don’t think Lee Suho cares about whether you can sing or not,” Soo-ah responds with a laugh, nudging her in the shoulder.

Jugyeong groans, handing her best friend a sheet mask before grabbing an aloe-scented sheet mask for herself. She pulls the mask out of its packaging and places it on her face, hoping the cooling sensation will take away from the anxiousness and feelings she’s feeling.

“But this girl is _beautiful_ and she has these really long legs and tiny waist that I don’t have,” she whines. “And everyone falls in love with Lee Suho.”

Soo-ah jabs Jugyeong roughly in the hip with her finger.

“Ow!” Jugyeong says, shocked.

“Stop that right now,” Soo-ah commands, shifting her body on the ground to face Jugyeong.

“My Im Ju, _you_ are beautiful. And you are the cutest, warmest, and kindest person ever,” Soo-ah says seriously, grabbing Jugyeong by the shoulders to have them face each other – sheet masked face to sheet masked face. “Also, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone look at anyone the way Suho looks at you. You really don’t have to worry.”

She sniffles. “I know, I’m being stupid,” Jugyeong says, looking down at her lap.

“You are,” Soo-ah says. Jugyeong looks up in shock, offended. “But I know how you feel. When Taehoon and I were broken up and he was going on a few dates, I felt really insecure too.”

“Really?” Jugyeong says, the word more high-pitched than normal. “How did you deal with it?”

Soo ah holds out her fingers and cracks her knuckles and her neck. “I just texted Taehoon that I wanted him back and we would get back together right after,” she says. “Then I didn’t feel insecure anymore because I knew he would always want me back.”

Jugyeong stares blankly at her friend, blinking a couple times. “I don’t think that’s healthy,” Jugyeong responds, after a beat.

“Probably not,” Soo-ah laughs, scrolling through Instagram nonchalantly on her phone. “We did break up seventeen times.”

Jugyeong’s phone goes off with a ding and she looks down to see a text from _Boyfriend_ with hearts around it.

“Is that him?” Soo-ah asks, looking up.

Jugyeong nods, reading the message. “He’s asking me if I want to get dinner with him and Heeyeon. They’re going to hotpot.”

“Wow, speak of the devil,” Soo-ah says, clicking her tongue.

She sighs loudly. “Well, I don’t really want to meet her, because I feel like it’ll make me feel worse.”

“Then don’t,” Soo-ah says, shooting her a thumbs up. “You’re with me, anyway. We will have way more fun.”

Jugyeong nods in agreement before sending her text, _“I’m with Soo-ah! Have a good dinner.”_

They spend the night watching funny YouTube videos and talking about anything and everything that she realizes that there are more important things in life than all this anxiety over nothing.

-

One night, Jugyeong is scrolling through her Instagram explore page when she sees a photo of Suho’s back. She does a double-take, because she knows Suho would never post a photo of himself since he doesn’t have social media.

And if anyone knows Suho’s back – it’s Jugyeong. She recognizes his broad shoulders, his height, his black coat that he always wears when it’s cold outside.

In the background are hundreds of locks. And the view of Seoul from above. The username of the poster is Heeyeon.

She feels sick to her stomach all of a sudden. Betrayed, almost. She can’t explain why but she can’t help the tears prickling at the edge of her eyes.

The caption is a single word that says: _muse_. There are comments in English that she translates to Korean that say, _“who is he??” “is that your boyfriend??” “need to get me to korea to get me a hot boy too!!”_

She quickly exits the app before she can get even more worked up.

“What did you do today?” Jugyeong asks him that night, on the phone, as she’s lying in bed, hugging her pillow close to her chest.

He yawns. “I went to Namsan Peak with Heeyeon to get some inspiration,” he mumbles, almost half-asleep. His confirmation only makes her feel worse, she can feel her chest beating loudly in her chest. She almost can’t hear him, because she can only hear the rushing of blood in her ears.

How could he bring her there? To their spot?

Her mouth feels incredibly dry.

“How was work today?” he asks.

Jugyeong ignores his question. “I thought you didn’t like photos of you being taken,” Jugyeong states instead, feeling like her tone of voice is coming out almost petulant and she can’t help it.

“Huh?” Suho asks, his voice suddenly coming out confused. “I don’t.”

 _Then why is there a photo of you on another girl’s Instagram???_ She wants to scream at him. But she takes a deep breath instead, trying to gulp down her feelings. “Nothing, I’m tired,” she says.

“Jugyeong-ah, what’s wrong?” Suho asks, the sleepiness in his voice gone, his voice now having a sort of desperate edge to it.

“Nothing,” Jugyeong repeats, stubbornly, swallowing down the big lump rising in her throat. Her heart is still beating fast. She needs to get off the phone soon, or she’s sure she’ll cry. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Her voice cracks.

“Im Jugyeong,” he repeats, urgently now. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

But she’s already hanging up the phone, flipping it over and burying her face in her pillow.

He calls her three more times before she silences her phone, not being able to help the tears that start to spill out of her eyes.

-

When Jugyeong wakes up in the morning, she feels instantly embarrassed by her outburst the night before. She closes her eyes, groaning and covering her eyes with the palm of her hand.

She’s almost afraid to look at her phone. She peeks through her fingers, expecting to see a bunch of missed calls, but there’s not a single text or missed call from Suho.

Her heart drops to her stomach, disappointed. Maybe he doesn’t care anymore. Maybe he’s done with her. She feels like crying again, but she doesn’t.

Instead, Jugyeong gets up to wash her face and brush her teeth.

Juyoung pops his head into the bathroom. “What did you do to Suho again?” Juyoung says, wrapping his arms around his chest.

“What do you mean?” Jugyeong asks, a pang in her chest again at his name.

Juyoung scoffs. “ _Hyung_ called me like three times last night to check on you,” he says, with annoyance. “My beauty sleep was really interrupted.” He sighs loudly. “But I _guess_ it’s fine since he said he’ll take me to omakase next weekend.”

Jugyeong looks down at the sink, washing the soap off her face. “Why did he do that?” she says, her voice monotone.

Juyoung sighs in exasperation. “Jugyeong, you know Suho gets a lot of anxiety, so why do you constantly ignore him like this?”

Jugyeong ignores him, unsure of what to say.

Her brother clearly looks fed up with her. “Whatever,” he says. “He’s outside, you know. He’s been waiting for you all night in his car.”

She shoots her head up and turns around immediately, but her brother is already gone.

-

When Jugyeong steps out her front door, she’s embarrassed – shy, almost ashamed to face him. She smiles when she sees that he’s fallen asleep in the front seat of his car, parked in front of her house.

Sheepishly, she taps on the window and he jolts up, his eyes on her in shock.

Instantly, she sees his eyes soften once they realize it’s her.

Jugyeong slips into his car, wordlessly.

“Im Jugyeong, you’re here,” Suho says, breathing out a sigh of relief. He immediately leans over the side compartment and wraps his arms around her, burying his face into her shoulder.

She freezes in response. After she freaked out on him last night, she doesn’t understand how he still is happy to see her. How he still hugs her. How he still loves her. She’s so confused.

“Why did you wait here all night for me when you knew I was sleeping?” Jugyeong mumbles. She’s never felt so vulnerable around him.

He pulls away and looks her in the eyes, his fingers stroking her cheek. “Because I missed you,” he tells her. “I missed you so much I thought I would die.”

She looks down to her feet and lets out a small laugh. “You always say that,” she says.

Suho leans back on his chair, his hand still on her cheek. “Because I always mean it.”

“I’m sorry about last night,” Jugyeong finally says, looking up at him, bringing his hand down to hold between both her hands. “I’ve just been under a lot of pressure and been feeling stressed and work has been hectic and I never get to see you anymore—”

She stops when he leans over quickly and kisses the top of her forehead. “Im Jugyeong,” he says gently. “We can talk about it when we get to my apartment, okay?”

Jugyeong gives him a small nod and he holds her hand during the whole drive there.

-

“Did you eat?” Suho asks when they get to his apartment. She unties her shoelaces and places them on the top shelf, empty for her shoes the way he always leaves it for her.

She shakes her head. “I didn’t, but I’m not hungry,” she says.

He glances at her once. “I’ll order something because I don’t want your stomach to hurt again,” he says, heading to the couch, already tapping in an order on his phone.

She comes to sit in front of him, on his coffee table, as he finishes placing an order on a delivery app. He looks up and she consciously avoids his eyes.

“Okay,” Suho says, looking up at her, eyes expectant but still kind.

Jugyeong looks down at her phone, pulling up the photo of Suho that had set her off last night. She hands her phone to her and he looks closely at it.

He looks up at her, confused. “What is this?”

“It’s a photo of you that Shin Heeyeon took of you,” Jugyeong explains weakly. “At Namsan Peak.”

He looks down again at the photo before looking up, but there’s still a confused look on his face. “I don’t understand—”

“You said you didn’t like photos being taken of you,” Jugyeong says. “You told me it was only okay when it was me that took photos of you. But this is a photo of you. That I didn’t take.”

She knows she’s not making any sense, but her thoughts are jumbled up with her emotions.

He doesn’t speak for a moment. “I didn’t know Heeyeon took this photo of me,” he says, slowly. “Or that she posted it. I can ask her to take it down.”

She feels frustrated, grabbing her phone back.

“It’s just—” Jugyeong starts, her voice strangled. “You’re just – you’re just spending so much time with her. And I barely see you anymore. Then I see this photo and I just… "

She’s rambling now, she can’t stop.

“How could you take her to _our_ café and sit at _our_ table?” Jugyeong says, her lower lip trembling. “And you even brought her to Namsan Peak too? That’s our place. At least I thought it was our place. Were these things only something special to me? Are these just places you would just take any girl?”

She’s on the verge of tears again, but she swallows down the knot in her throat.

But Suho is looking at her, _really_ looking at her. His eyes are suddenly all-knowing as if it has all just clicked for him and he’s finally understanding. She feels so vulnerable, so seen, and her heart drops to her stomach— mortified. She looks down at the rug beneath them.

“Come here,” Suho says, his arms open wide for her.

“I’m fine, it’s fine, it’s nothing, I’m overreacting,” she mumbles.

“Im Jugyeong,” he says firmly, refusing to put his arms down, his eyes are pleading with her. “Please come here,” he repeats, though more sweetly this time.

Jugyeong sighs and concedes, falling into him as he wraps his arms around her waist, putting his chin on her shoulder. He talks into her hair, “I’m sorry,” he murmurs, his voice so sweet and genuine, it makes her feel silly for bursting on him.

“For what?” Jugyeong says, weakly. She knows she’s been unreasonably mad, still trying to hold up a front that she’s not bothered. That she’s a cool, chill, relaxed girlfriend. But her façade is slowly breaking as he nuzzles his nose into her hair. 

“For making you feel like this,” he tells her. 

“You’re allowed to have friends. It’s me. I’m the problem,” she sighs into his shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I did,” he says, gently pushing her shoulders back so he can look her in the eye. “I committed the worst crime that I could have,” he tells her. “I didn’t make you feel loved.”

Suho’s hands are on her face now, wiping away the tears that are wetting her cheeks. “I love you so much, Im Jugyeong,” he says.

“I know,” she mumbles, timidly.

“More than you know,” he says, looking her right in the eyes. He brings her forehead towards his lips to kiss her on the head again.

“Let me show you something, okay?” Suho says, suddenly. He’s looking at her with a tiny smile on his face and he always knows exactly how to comfort her.

She blinks her tears away. “Okay,” Jugyeong says through her sniffles.

The next few moments, Suho leads her to his music room, intertwining his fingers with hers. He pulls a chair with his free hand for her to sit next to him in front of the computer. He turns on the monitor of the screen, displaying the desktop in front of them.

“We’ve been working on an EP with 5 songs,” he tells her, glancing over at her. “I wanted to keep them a secret until it was all finished, so I could play them all for you.”

He clicks on a folder on the desktop where dozens of files open up. He scrolls through the folder, his eyes searching for one. Her eyes immediately go to a file named _first snow demo_ by Leo, which he clicks on.

“The reason I went to Namsan Peak with Heeyeon yesterday is because I wrote this song,” he tells her.

Jugyeong looks at him, surprised. “You wrote a song?”

He nods. “I did,” Suho admits. He looks a little embarrassed. “I wanted her to feel the emotions I was feeling on top of Namsan Peak, the ones that inspired this song. So she could remember it when we recorded her singing it.”

He takes a deep breath and she swears she’s never seen him look so nervous. She watches him carefully.

“This song is about you, Im Jugyeong,” Suho tells her, earnestly, not taking his eyes off her. She swears her heart skips a beat. “Every single song we wrote together on this EP,” he continues. “I wrote about you.”

For the first time, Jugyeong is utterly rendered speechless. She is tearing again, but happy tears because Lee Suho has made her feel so loved and so special, she can’t believe she had ever doubted him.

He clicks play and the beautiful acoustic sounds fill the room. She leans against his shoulder, listening to the song play. Jugyeong looks up in surprise when she hears his singing voice. His cheeks and ears and neck are incredibly red, and he avoids her eyes.

The song is incredible to her – it conveys the feelings exactly of how she felt also seeing him for the first time in two years. The lingering feelings of hope, fear, loss, and love all wrapped up into one.

As the song ends, she leans into him. “I know I’m not the best singer and it’s just a demo but—”

“I love it,” Jugyeong says, looking up at him, her eyes wide. “It’s so beautiful.”

He smiles, pulling her from her chair into his lap.

“Im Jugyeong, you’re the only one I want,” Suho assures her, resting his forehead against hers. “The only one I think about. The only one I will ever think about.”

He brings his hand up to her cheek again.

“I love you, Lee Suho,” she says before she kisses him so deeply that she can feel him all the way to her toes.

They’re still kissing in the music room when he hitches her legs around his waist, securing her tightly before standing up from the chair. Messily, he makes their way out to the living room, to his bedroom area, when they collapse on his bed— still glued together by the lips. 

She looks up at him as he finally pulls away, heavy breathing. He’s cradling her face in one of his hands. He brushes the hair out of her face, sweetly. “The food is coming soon,” he tells her with restraint, though his eyes mischievous. 

Jugyeong pauses a moment before she gives him a grin. “We’ll have to be quick, then,” she says with a whisper.

His eyes darken in response. “Maybe we should eat first,” he says, but then he’s kissing her neck, and his hands are under her shirt.

They come together so quickly and so naturally, he’s rocking against her in a perfect rhythm and she’s whimpering, gripping his hair, hands grasping at his back, coming undone for him over and over.

She almost feels spoiled because she realizes then that he shows her that he loves her in so many ways. In his words, his actions, his touch, his heart besting against hers.

He thrusts one last time into her, moaning her name and they tumble over the edge -- and she hopes it’ll be this way forever-- together.

-

Jugyeong presents her makeup concepts in the drama department lecture hall to her professor, the director of the play, and a few of the producers that Friday. Because she’s practiced and prepared so much, all the words flow out of her easily, confidently. She ends her presentation a thank you and a big smile, feeling like the top of the world.

“That was one of the best concepts I have seen in my many years of teaching,” her professor praises her afterwards, genuine and kind. “I am excited to work with you on this for the rest of the semester. You really are talented, Im Jugyeong.”

Feeling sky high, she almost wants to cry tears of happiness. The weight off her shoulders has lifted and she hasn’t realized how heavy it had felt. Before leaving the building to meet up with Suho, Jugyeong stops by the restroom. As she’s washing her hands, still giddy from excitement, a familiar-looking face steps out of the stall behind her.

“Hey, do I know you? You look so familiar,” the woman says, tilting her head towards her as she’s washing her hands in the sink.

Recognition immediately crosses Jugyeong’s face as she realizes the woman standing in front of her is—

“Oh my gosh! You’re Im Jugyeong, aren’t you?” Heeyeon says with a gasp.

Jugyeong nods in shock, standing almost speechless. The image of a woman that has been living rent free in her mind, is now in front of her, tangible, a real person.

“I’m Shin Heeyeon,” she says, reaching out her hand for a handshake, enthusiastically. Her smile is bright. “I’ve heard so much about you from Lee Suho! I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you. I almost feel like we’ve already met.”

Jugyeong snaps out of her frozen state, shaking Heeyeon’s hand. “It’s really nice to finally meet you as well,” she says, genuinely. Heeyeon is beautiful, as she knows, but Jugyeong realizes that with meeting her in person, her resentment is no longer present.

“Suho told me that you’re a really talented makeup artist. I heard you work with Selena – that’s so cool,” Heeyeon exclaims, putting her face in her hands in awe. “I’m such a big fan of her. She’s the one who taught me how to do makeup.”

“Really?” Jugyeong asks, her eyes lighting up. After so many weeks of viewing Heeyeon as someone mysterious, having something in common with her seemed out of the question. “Me too!” Jugyeong says with excitement.

“Without her, I would have been a mess,” Heeyeon nods with a laugh. She pulls out a Selena-branded lip tint from her bag as a token and holds it up to Jugyeong.

“I use the same one!” Jugyeong exclaims, also pulling out the same lip tint in the same shade. “There’s actually a warehouse sale tomorrow where all of her products are going to be 50% off.”

Jugyeong pulls up a screenshot of the email she received from her phone of the sale.

“You’re kidding,” Heeyeon replies, leaning closer to read the email. “Wow, it’s a short bus ride from here!”

“Yeah, I think I’ll go after class,” Jugyeong says brightly. She puts her phone back in her pocket for looking up. “Wait, do you want to go with me? We can wait in line together!”

Heeyeon claps her hands together in excitement. “I would love to go!” she exclaims.

“Just make sure to bring a _huge_ bag,” Jugyeong tells her with a laugh as they’re exiting the bathroom together.

They’re coordinating the details as they’re walking down the hall – Heeyeon gets out of class at 11 AM and Jugyeong gets out at 11:30 AM, so they’ll meet right after by the bus stop to take to the warehouse. Heeyeon gives Jugyeong her phone to exchange their numbers.

“You know, once I waited in the rain for one of these sale events,” Heeyeon admits, a little sheepishly. “And I didn’t even get in because it was full capacity.”

“Wait, was it the _colorgram_ one last year?” Jugyeong asks, surprised.

Heeyeon nods.

Jugyeong laughs in response at the memory, “I was there too waiting in the rain! It was miserable, I ended up getting a fever after.”

Heeyeon giggles. “If only we knew each other then, we could have been sick together.”

Jugyeong nods in agreement, a giggle escaping her as well. “And maybe it would have been less miserable.”

Heeyeon suddenly turns the corner. “Oh, I have to go this way to meet with one of my professors,” Heeyeon says, pointing down the opposite hallway. “But I’ll see you tomorrow, Im Jugyeong!”

“See you tomorrow!” Jugyeong replies, waving at her new-found friend.

When Jugyeong turns back around and looks up, she sees her boyfriend waiting down for her at the corner of the hall, watching her with an amused smile on his face. A blush is on her face when she realizes that he just saw the two of them together. She wonders if he thinks she’s crazy.

“Im Jugyeong,” he says with wonder once she approaches him.

“Hi,” she replies, a small smile on her face.

His eyes are basically sparkling, she thinks, as Suho looks at her with that proud smile that he always gives her. “Your presentation went well?”

“It went amazing,” she says, hopping up to hug him.

He wraps his arms around her, tighter, like he’ll never let her go. “I want to hear all about it.”

As they’re walking to his car, she intertwines her fingers with his as she recounts how the presentation went, what her professor says. He tells her he’s proud of her, as always. That she’s done a good job and her heart never has felt more content.

“Oh-- by the way, I met Heeyeon,” she says, as they’re getting into his car.

“I saw,” Suho replies, amused.

“We’re actually going to a makeup sale tomorrow together. She’s really nice,” Jugyeong says.

Suho looks at her for a moment, his eyes shining brightly, before he leans over to kiss the top of her forehead. “How could you ever think I would want anything more than you, Im Jugyeong?” he murmurs, against her hair.

She's never felt happier.

**Author's Note:**

> this is set in the kdrama universe but I used two characters' names from the webtoon as kind of a nod to it! also this was supposed to be not more than 5k words, but I don't know what happened and it ran away from me. LOL
> 
> this started off because I personally wanted to give Lee Suho a friend since he's growing and making friends!! And though we saw a little bit of jealous Im Jugyeong with Kang Sujin, I felt that that part of the drama wasn't really addressed and so... i wrote it hehe.
> 
> hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!!
> 
> tumblr: night--street


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